PARIS (VN) — Alberto Contador’s Saxo Bank-Tinkoff team must wait to learn whether it will be included in the Union Cycliste Internationale’s WorldTour for 2013 after its omission from the provisional list of 15 teams released Monday.

Saxo Bank missed the initial cut based on sporting merit, which considered the 2011-12 results of each team’s top-12 riders under contract for 2013.

The Danish outfit, which was unable to count Contador’s points as a result of his doping suspension, was ranked 20th, one of five teams that must vie for the final three places in cycling’s top tier.

“It should be noted that the team’s sporting value is partially determined by results obtained in 2011 and 2012, by riders which are included in the 2013 team squads. The sporting criterion is crucial for the obtaining or retaining of UCI ProTeam status, in addition to compliance with ethical, financial and administrative criteria,” said the UCI in a press release.

Teams ranked below 20th are considered not to have satisfied the sporting criterion and may apply for registration in the UCI’s second division.

In early November the UCI will announce its list of ProTeams with valid 2013 WorldTour license that have satisfied all criteria — sporting, including ethical, financial and administrative — and the teams that have applied for Professional Continental status.

The remaining teams will be subject to a thorough evaluation by the UCI’s License Commission, with the first decisions taken on November 26 and the final decisions made on December 10.